Police in Ferguson gave a lesson in how not to respond to protests, says report

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Police in Ferguson gave a lesson in how not to respond to protests, says report

Associated Press in Washington
Thursday 3 September 2015 00.11 BST

The police response to unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer offers lessons in how not to handle mass demonstrations, according to a Justice Department report that warns such problems could happen in other places roiled by mistrust between law enforcement and the community.

The report fleshes out a draft version made public in June, creating a portrait of poor community-police relations, ineffective communication among the more than 50 law enforcement agencies that responded, police orders that infringed first amendment rights, and military-style tactics that antagonized demonstrators.

The final version, which is to be released on Thursday, was obtained in advance by the Associated Press.

The report focuses on the regional police response in the 17 days that followed the 9 August 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, by a white police officer. In a detailed chronology, it tracks missteps that began almost immediately after the shooting when police wrongly assumed that crowds would quickly dissipate, withheld information from the public and were slow to grasp community angst over the hours-long presence of Brown’s body beneath white sheets in the street.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/02/police-ferguson-response-justice-department-report

[underpants]

1. Parroting RW talking points at a presser and releasing the Grand Jury findings at night

They clearly were antagonizing for mayhem.